


I Am Yours, And You Are Mine

by theloverofdragons



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Zutara Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:32:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7770244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theloverofdragons/pseuds/theloverofdragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I am yours, and you are mine. From this day. Until the end of my days."<br/>{Quote taken from Game of Thrones}<br/>Zutara Week 2016; Dragons, Reincarnation, Memories, Lilac, Fever, Coffee, Candles</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. Then I will own A:tLA, and not before

“He’s adorable,” Katara cooed, looking down at the little creature lounging in front of her and Zuko.

The Fire Lord snorted. “You do know that he’ll grow out of that, right?”

She slapped his arm in response. “Of course I do, Jerkbender. Polar bear-pups are ridiculously cute, but an adult polar bear-dog will bite your head off, if provoked.”

Zuko snorted again. “Point taken.”

Only five weeks ago, Zuko had been called out to the Sun Warriors’ temples (at such short notice that Katara was unable to go with him; Iroh couldn’t arrive from Ba Sing Se in time, and _someone_ had to look after the Fire Nation) to witness the hatching of the first dragon born in nearly a hundred years, and now he and Katara had been assigned to look after that same baby dragon while the Sun Warriors were preparing their festivities (“It’s totally different to babysitting!” Zuko had huffed. “Agni-dammit Katara, stop smirking at me! It _is_!”).

He looked like a large lizard with wings, and it was frankly astonishing to think that this tiny creature would grow up to possess a long, streamlined, powerful body like Ran and Shao’s. However he had big, round eyes, and his hide was a rich shade of red, speckled with gold on his horns and the tip of his tail, and Katara couldn’t help but be glad that she had been able to accompany Zuko this time.

“I still can’t believe this,” Katara murmured, holding her hand out to the baby dragon as he turned towards her. “That despite all of Sozin’s efforts, dragons are still _here_. In this world.”

“ _I’m_ still surprised that the Sun Stone Aang and I found when we first came here five years ago, was an actual dragon egg,” Zuko replied, raising an eyebrow as the dragon sniffed the hand offered to it, before snorting and sauntering away. “In all honesty, I’m still not sure why the Sun Warriors wanted me here for their festival honouring the dragons, or even to see this one hatch, with what Sozin started and everything.”

“They trust you, you idiot,” Katara ran her hands through his hair soothingly. “Just as the Fire Nation trusts you to lead them to a new era of prosperity without the need for the war, the Sun Warriors trust you to protect the dragons. The dragons themselves found you worthy, didn’t they?”

“I guess so,” Zuko grabbed her hand and laid a kiss on her knuckles. “Of course, I’m not doing this alone anymore, am I?”

The Fire Lady smiled, reaching up to her neck where the engagement necklace Zuko had painstakingly carved for her was hanging just below her mother’s necklace. She opened her mouth to reply, but her and Zuko’s attentions were diverted by a small growl. A pair of draconic eyes blinked up at them knowingly, and he even appearing to be smirking (can dragons smirk?).

Zuko evidently thought so. “Stop staring at us like that! I know that the Sun Warriors said that dragons can be receptive to love, but still!”

Katara giggled as the dragon cooed. Zuko’s cheeks flushed red, and he made a grumbling sound in his throat. Katara and the dragon smirked again, as she leaned over and kissed his cheek, causing them to redden further.

A distant roar caused them all to look up and towards the two mountains, as two fully grown dragons swooped overhead. The baby lifted his head and called back, causing Zuko to roll his eyes good-naturedly as Katara made a small squealing noise and hugged him tightly.

Ran and Shao circled in the air before coming in to land. The baby called out again, and engaged in a pretty inelegant scramble in a bid to reach them, as Katara and Zuko watched in amusement.

When he had settled in between her front legs, Shao wound herself into a circle around him, and in turn, Ran settled himself over her. All three dragons let out small sighs of satisfaction, smoke curling up out of their nostrils.

“Know what else the Sun Warriors told me?” Zuko whispered, manoeuvring round his wife so he was curled around her in a manner remarkably similar to Ran and Shao. “Dragons guard their families as diligently as their treasure. That’s why they’re curling around the baby like that; it shows love and pride, but also provides protection and shelter.”

Katara smiled, and she moved her and Zuko’s hands down to her stomach, where their own little dragon was awaiting her hatching day.


	2. Reincarnation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own as much as Jon Snow knows

Katara enters the tea shop, shaking her umbrella outside to get rid of the excess water, and flicks her hair out of her face. She makes her way over to an empty table, sits and opens one of the menus stacked on the windowsill next to her.

Suki and Toph said that they'd meet her at the Jasmine Dragon at half-three, but Katara wanted to get some studying done (her finals are too close for comfort, and yeah she needs to relax, that's why she's meeting her friends, but she also needs to revise), which is why she arrived half an hour earlier.

Once she's decided on her tea (ginseng, she doesn't quite know why, but she has a particular fondness for this flavour) and ordered, she reaches into her bag and pulls out her biochemistry text book, lined paper and many, _many_ highlighters.

The first fifteen minutes pass uneventfully; her tea arrives, nobody disturbs her, and carbohydrate molecules are finally beginning to make some sense. However, as she tries to make room for her growing stack of revision cards, she moves her textbook too vigorously, and it slips off the edge of the table.

Cursing softly, she slides out of her chair and reaches for the book, but before she gets there, another hand picks it up.

"Hey, um, I think you dropped this?" A raspy voice sounds from above, and she quickly straightens up, until she's level with the chin of a boy with dark shaggy hair, who looks to be a couple of years older than her.

"Oh yeah…" she reaches out and he places the book in her hand. "Um…thanks."

Her eyes flick upwards, as his travel downwards and as they meet, she barely has enough time to marvel at the vibrant shade of gold, before her brain is suddenly bombarded with memories that are not her own, but are still strangely familiar.

_A riverbank and forest under the light of the moon, a tight grasp on her wrists, "I'll save you from the pirates…"_

_The feel of rough scarred skin under her palm, the green lights of crystals, "maybe you could be free of it…"_

_A pier with the sunset reflecting off, wrapping her arms around broad shoulders, strong arms clasping her waist in return, "but I am ready to forgive you…"_

_A flash of blue light, a thud as a body drops to the floor, panic, desperation, a soft glow over a red starburst mark, "I think I should be the one who's thanking you…"_

She gaps as the flood of memories stops, still humming with the feeling of such strong relief she might cry, and blinks several times until her vision clears. The boy looks as stunned as she feels, and before she can stop them, the words come bubbling out.

"I know you from somewhere, don't I?"


	3. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: As much as I try to forget, the North remembers that I don't own A:tLA

"La buddy, I love how sharing you are with your alcohol," Sokka thumped Zuko on the back, and took a large swig of rice wine. "You ain't a lightweight like Aang. It even kinda-sorta-maybe makes up for the fact that you're dating my baby sister, though o' course, only we know that."

"Glad to have your approval, Sokka," Zuko responded dryly, taking his own swig of wine.

"Is no problem buddy!" Sokka slurred, glancing across the campfire to where the girls were seated on the other side. "Was also swell o' you to arrange a meet up for all of us on Ember Island, ya know; for ol' time's sake. Brings back the memories, don't it?"

"That it does," Zuko agreed. "Like that pier over there. That's where your sister first hugged me. There was a stage where I thought she'd never forgive me, and now look at us."

"Yup! I know wha' you mean!" Sokka flung his arm around the Fire Lord's shoulders. "When I first met Suki, she would rather've punched me than kissed me, and actually did when we were on Kyoshi and the Boiling Rock, but not now! She's so kind and funny, and she gets my art, and we're both awesome warriors!"

"Sometimes I still can't believe that Katara and I are together. She's compassionate but fierce, she won't let anyone walk over her, and she can trounce me in sparring matches."

"Spirits, those girls are amazing. We are so lucky we have them."

 

* * *

 

"C'mon Sugar Queen! Stop bein' so stingy with the booze!" Toph lunged for the wineskin Katara was holding out of her reach.

The waterbender huffed and handed it to a smirking Suki. "No Toph. You've had enough. At least Aang was able to realise how much he'd had and went inside."

"Twinkletoes is a lightweight!" Toph snorted. "Your boyfriend invited us all to Ember Island, and brought this booze to share around, so that's what we're gonna do!"

"Yes, well," Katara replied dryly. "He has a penchant for making idiotic decisions occasionally. Like our first proper interaction, where he told me he'd 'save me from the pirates' and then tied me to a tree. Or at the North Pole when he decided to fight me when we were surrounded by ice and snow."

"I think it might be a male thing," Suki offered as Toph sniggered. "Remember when Sokka first called my training 'dance lessons'?"

Katara snorted. "Yep, and you kicked his butt and made him wear a dress."

Toph cackled. "Oh man, I wish I could've seen that. Hey, remember when he drank cactus juice in the desert and started talking about 'giant friendly mushrooms'?"

"Don't remind me," Katara groaned. "I never want to hear the phrase 'it's the quenchiest!' ever again."

"Why?" Toph sniggered, while Suki struggled not to laugh too loudly and alert the boys on the other side of the campfire. "He has a natural curiosity."

"Spirits, those guys are idiots. They are so lucky they have us."


	4. Lilac

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Having (bought the t-shirt) pledged my life to the Night’s Watch, I am not permitted to hold any lands, wear any crown, win any glory, or own A:tLA

"I literally cannot trust you two to do _anything_!" Sokka howled, glaring at his sister and her boyfriend as they both stood sheepishly in the middle of his apartment kitchen, covered in paint. Behind him, Suki was shaking with silent laughter.

"The only reason I asked you two to help decorate, was because Aang's out of town, Toph's _blind_ , and I wanted to take Suki out for a nice meal," Sokka continued ranting. "And I stupidly, _stupidly_ thought to myself 'hey, my little sister and my best friend who's also her boyfriend are gonna be left in my apartment alone, but nothing bad's gonna happen! After all, it's just decorating!' But no! Look at yourselves!"

"It's not as bad as you're making it out to be Sokka!" Katara protested, as Suki let out several loud snorts.

" _Not as bad_ -!" Sokka's voice rose to a shriek. " _It's exactly as bad as I'm making it out to be! I just-aaaargh_!" He threw his hands up in the air, and stalked into his room.

Katara and Zuko exchanged looks, while Suki continued sniggering, and the sound of muffled screeching began to reach their ears.

"Suki," Zuko mumbled, rubbing his neck. "It's…it's not as bad as he's making it out to be…is it?"

"Of course not!" Katara snapped before Suki could answer. "It's just Sokka exaggerating, as usual. You know what he's like."

"Noooo," Suki hiccupped. "Not as much as he usually does."

"W-what?"

"Hmm, getting flashbacks to when you first started liking each other, and we had to explain everything to you," Suki muttered. "Ahem. Let me set it out for you. Sokka leaves you alone in his apartment, with the orders of decorating as much as you can, and no funny stuff. He comes back to find three walls with paint on them, the rest on you, and obvious evidence that you two have been making out in here while he's been gone. This starting to make sense now?"

"What obvious evidence?" Zuko didn't bother to deny her theories; Suki was like a bloodhound when it came to sniffing out bullshit.

Suki rolled her eyes. "Have either of you looked in a mirror lately?"

Katara frowned. "No. Why would we?"

With an exaggerated sigh, Suki rustled through one of the drawers for Sokka's, sorry, _her_ hand mirror ("I need to check if my wolf-tail looks alright, Suki! I can't go out looking less than perfect!"), and brought it over to them.

"Katara, you're covered in red paint. Zuko, you're covered in blue paint. What do you get when you mix red and blue?"

Beneath the paint, Katara and Zuko's cheeks reddened as they took in their appearances; their faces and necks spattered with incriminating patches of lilac.


	5. Fever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Jaime has his sword, Tyrion has his mind, and I...don't have A:tLA

"You," Katara hissed, as she dragged the half-electrocuted body of the Fire Prince (soon to be Fire Lord) into his bedroom, and unceremoniously dumped him on his bed. "Are an honest-to-La _idiot_ Zuko!"

Zuko made an unintelligible noise, and buried his head in his pillow. Katara huffed and rolled him back over, gently unravelling the bandages she had _persuaded_ a servant to fetch for her, drawing water from her topped-up water skins and applying it to the newly-scarred area on his chest.

Katara bit her lip, pushing the thought that he'd been scarred _again_ and for _her_ away, and focused on the healing glow as Zuko sighed softly, his shoulders relaxing. She leaned forwards, and gently moved some hair off of his forehead. He appeared to have mercifully fallen asleep, so she reapplied the bandages and pushed herself off the bed, intending on getting a feel for the room, before deciding what their next moves would be while waiting for Sokka, Toph, Suki and Aang to return.

She paused as she looked out of one of the windows, seeing the previously blood-red sky beginning to gently fade to the orange common for Fire Nation sunsets. Taking it to mean that Sozin's Comet was finally passing (for another hundred years, thank the spirits), a small smile spread across her lips, before quickly it quickly faded as she turned back to Zuko.

He was looking considerably worse for wear; he had begun sweating more and was shivering slightly. However, when she laid her hand on his forehead, it was warm; warmer than even Zuko normally was.

Recognising the signs from when she had seen it in both Poles, and from early in their journey, after they had been caught in that hideous storm, Katara's healing training kicked in, and she began making his surroundings as comfortable as possible. She made sure the sheets were covering him, and his head was resting properly on his pillow. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the spare water skin she carried for nourishment rather than combat, and laid it on a small table next to the bed, before sitting back down next to Zuko and tentatively placing his hand in her own.

"This must be your body's way of getting rid of any residual lightning that you didn't redirect. You _had_ to have redirected it otherwise you'd be…" she swallowed heavily, unable to even think about the rest of the sentence. "Anyway, it's manifested into some kind of fever, but I'm sure you'll be okay Zuko. You're too stubborn to let a fever take you down."

There was little to no response from Zuko, aside from the slight tightening of his hand in hers.

Taking this to mean she could continue, Katara sat with him and talked throughout the night, periodically pausing so she could check his temperature and either adjust his sheets, try some more healing, or get some water down his throat.

The topics varied from Gran-Gran's sea prune soup back in the South Pole, to all the places the Gaang had travelled to. Katara kept talking, remembering how it had helped Sokka when they were camped out in that temple (not that he could coherently remember any of it).

But she couldn't talk about mundane things forever, and she eventually found her way back to what had transpired during the Agni Kai.

"Why would you do something like that?" she whispered, gently running her hands through his hair. "I've never seen firebending like it. You were beating Azula, would've beaten her, but you nearly _died_ Zuko. You were potentially throwing away the future of your entire nation, the same nation you told me means so much to you! That lightning _burned you from the inside out_ and for what exactly?"

A small huff made her jump, having become accustomed to just her voice in the room, and she looked down to where one of Zuko's golden eyes was starting blearily up at her.

"Was worth it," he mumbled.

Katara let out a choked sob. "Worth it? How was jumping in front of a bolt of lightning _worth it_?"

Zuko's shoulders moved in an attempt at a shrug. "You're alright."

Katara watched as his eye flickered shut and he fell back asleep, while her heart began throbbing with previously repressed affection for this boy who had seen her at her best and at her worst, who respected her as a person and as a warrior, who understood her in ways not even Sokka could, and who had taken a lightning bolt to the chest for her because she meant so much to him.

By the time the others had returned to the palace, Zuko's fever had broken. As had the barriers Katara had built around her heart.


	6. Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I drink, and I know things. That's it. No ownership of A:tLA included

" _OI! SPARKY! RISE AND SHIIIIIINE_!"

There were times when Katara was thankful to have Toph as one of her closest friends. Those times did not include her having to wake up stupidly early because the other girl had decided to hack Zuko's alarm.

Of course, it didn't help that her boyfriend took 'the early bird catches the worm' to a whole new extreme, waking up at times that she, a notorious night owl, found incomprehensible.

"I rise with the sun," he had said to her once, "you rise with the moon." It had been rather poetic, even when he immediately turned red afterwards.

The mattress dipped slightly as she felt Zuko sit up, brush a kiss against her cheek (ever the awkward romantic), and get out of bed. Slowly opening an eyelid, Katara peeked at the time, letting out an aggravated moan when she saw that it was 7:45; while an improvement on Zuko's regular wake up times (weekends deserve lie ins), it was still too early for her.

She pulled the covers around her bare body, glancing up as Zuko's bare chest passed through her line of vision, before burying her head back in her pillow, feeling the residual flush in her cheeks from the night before.

It had been a while since their first time, and though they had managed to progress past the awkward fumbling, she had never passed the amazement she always felt when she woke up to find him curled up beside her.

_Of course, that still doesn't improve this situation_ , Katara grumbled in her head. _The only thing that could really do that is –_

"Expecting this?"

Zuko's voice jerked her out of her thoughts, and she reluctantly raised her head to look where he was standing in the doorway to the bedroom, holding two steaming mugs of coffee. He snorted at the sudden gleam in her eyes, and made his way over to the bed.

"Careful!" she warned, sitting up and resting her back against the headboard. "If any of the coffee gets on the carpet, it'll take ages to get the stain out."

"I know what I'm doing," Zuko rolled his eyes. "I do work in a tea shop you know."

"I'm aware," Katara reached out her hand to receive her mug. She took a sip as Zuko slid back into the bed, and sighed with satisfaction. "You know, this is why I can forgive your ridiculous wake-up times."

Zuko snorted. "Glad to hear. After all, you don't like my tea; you said it's too 'bracing'."

"Yes, even with Iroh as your uncle, your tea-making skills leave much to be desired. Thankfully you can actually make a pretty decent coffee."

"When I started dating you, it was kind of a necessary skill to learn."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara scowled, taking another sip of coffee.

Zuko raised his eyebrow, and moved his hand closer to Katara's mug. He barely made it past the edge of his pillow, when his girlfriend hissed and slapped his hand away.

"Mornings don't agree with you, and if you haven't had your morning coffee, or if it's not done well enough, you can get rather..." he paused, searching for the right word, "…unhappy."

Katara's cheeks flushed slightly, as Zuko lay back with a smirk, taking a swig of his own coffee. She drummed her fingers on the side of her mug, determined to get back at him, until an idea formed in her head, and a smirk of her own appeared.

Leaning over him, she placed her mug on his bedside cabinet, looking at him over her shoulder and batting her eyelids.

"But that's not _always_ the case, is it Sparky?" she stated with mock innocence.

Zuko paused, blinking with confusion until his eyes suddenly widened over the rim of his mug. He slowly lowered it and put it next to Katara's. He turned back towards her, and she pounced.

It wasn't until later, accompanied by much swearing, that they realised the rocking of the bed had caused the coffee mugs to fall on the carpet.


	7. Candles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Targaryens are the blood of the dragon, and I am not the owner of A:tLA

"Hey Katara."

The soft voice jerked Katara out of her thoughts as she stared out at the ocean, and she turned her head to see Zuko standing behind her, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"Hi," she replied just as quietly. "I, um, didn't know if you'd come."

Zuko shrugged. "Well, you did ask me to. And I must admit that I was intrigued as to what you wanted with a candle on the beach."

Katara glanced down at his hands, where he cradled a short, cylindrical wax candle. _Different to what we have in the Water Tribes, but that's probably because we make our candles out of seal fat rather than wax._

"Come over here, and I'll show you," she replied aloud, turning back to face the setting sun. The sand crunched softly under Zuko's boots as he made his way over to her, and slowly lowered himself to the ground next to her.

"What's that for?" he asked, nodding towards the small wooden object, that was resting by her feet.

"This?" Katara picked it up, so he could get a better look. "Well…it's not perfect; I mean, I just found a curved bit of wood in the forest and tried to carve it; Sokka's much better than me at stuff like this; but it's meant to be a boat." She was babbling, she knew, and turned her face to the side, blushing slightly.

Zuko merely nodded again, examining the Water Tribe symbols and characters she had painstakingly carved into the wood. "I think you've done a great job. What're you going to do with it now?"

"Well," Katara put the makeshift boat back down, and gestured at the candle he held in his hands. "It's, well, it's for my mother. There's this tradition in the Water Tribes of honouring our loved ones who are no longer with us. We, um, carve a small boat with these symbols, and their name, put a lighted candle inside, and let it float out to sea, in the hopes that it will reach them in the Spirit World. It's only usually done on the anniversary of their…death…but I thought it might be fitting to do it again today, because we were able to track down Yon Rha yesterday…" She trailed off, glancing at him anxiously.

"I understand," Zuko said quietly. "And I'm truly honoured that you want me to be here, for something that means so much to you Katara."

A smile tugged at her lips as she grabbed the boat again and stood up, pulling Zuko up with her, and together, they walked down to the sea, stopping just before where the waves were lapping at the beach.

Katara lifted the boat up to chest level, and Zuko fixed the candle in the middle, delicately melting the wax around the base so it would stick to the surface.

"Do you…" Katara felt her throat constrict, and coughed to clear it. "Um…do you want to light the candle?"

Nodding, Zuko lifted his index finger to the tip of the candle, and a tiny burst of flame affixed itself to the wick, flickering slightly in the sea breeze. Katara lowered the boat again, and stepped forwards. She carefully laid it in the water, and with a flick of her wrist, her bending pushed it out to sea.

She stepped back again, and wordlessly reached for Zuko's hand, desiring comfort. Softly his hand turned in her grip, and squeezed her own.

"Your mother would be proud of you," he said quietly.

"Thank you Zuko," she murmured back.

Silently, hand in hand, they watched the little boat make its way out to sea, until the setting sun swallowed up the small, flickering candlelight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, zutara week is at an end :( Full kudos to everyone's entries and for @zutaraweek over on tumblr for running it, and gotta say, it was a heck of a lot of fun participating :)   
> *crawls back into cave*


End file.
